Transport block size (TBS) determination in full-dimension multiple-input multiple-output (FD MIMO) networks

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of a User Equipment (UE) and methods of communication are generally described herein. If a higher layer parameter altMCS-Table is configured, and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is assigned by a downlink control information (DCI) format 1, 1B, 1D, 2, 2A, 2B, 2C, or 2D, the UE may, for some subframe/frame configurations, determine a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) for the transport block as a maximum of: 1; and a floor function applied to a product of a total number of allocated PRBs, a parameter dependent on a special subframe configuration, and a scaling parameter. For other subframe/frame configurations, the UE may determine the number of PRBs for the transport block as a maximum of: 1; and the floor function applied to a product of the total number of allocated PRBs and the scaling parameter.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims priority under 35 USC 119(e) to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 62/653,971, filed Apr. 6, 2018, and to U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/659,548, filed Apr. 18, 2018,both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments pertain to wireless networks. Some embodiments relate tocellular communication networks including 3GPP (Third GenerationPartnership Project) networks, 3GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks,3GPP LTE-A (LTE Advanced) networks, New Radio (NR) networks, and 5Gnetworks, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in thisrespect. Some embodiments relate to transport blocks. Some embodimentsrelate to full-dimension multiple-input multiple-output (FD MIMO)communication.

BACKGROUND

Efficient use of the resources of a wireless network is important toprovide bandwidth and acceptable response times to the users of thewireless network. However, often there are many devices trying to sharethe same resources and some devices may be limited by the communicationprotocol they use or by their hardware bandwidth. Moreover, wirelessdevices may need to operate with both newer protocols and with legacydevice protocols.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a functional diagram of an example network in accordance withsome embodiments;

FIG. 1B is a functional diagram of another example network in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates a user device in accordance with some aspects;

FIG. 4 illustrates a base station in accordance with some aspects;

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary communication circuitry according tosome aspects;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a radio frame structure in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B illustrate example frequency resources in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates the operation of a method of communication inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates the operation of another method of communication inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 10 illustrates example elements in accordance with someembodiments; and

FIG. 11 illustrates example operations in accordance with someembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustratespecific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practicethem. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical,process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodimentsmay be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments.Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalentsof those claims.

FIG. 1A is a functional diagram of an example network in accordance withsome embodiments. FIG. 1B is a functional diagram of another examplenetwork in accordance with some embodiments. In references herein, “FIG.1” may include FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B. In some embodiments, the network 100may be a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network. In someembodiments, the network 150 may be a 3GPP network. In a non-limitingexample, the network 150 may be a new radio (NR) network. It should benoted that embodiments are not limited to usage of 3GPP networks,however, as other networks may be used in some embodiments. As anexample, a Fifth Generation (5G) network may be used in some cases. Asanother example, a New Radio (NR) network may be used in some cases. Asanother example, a wireless local area network (WLAN) may be used insome cases. Embodiments are not limited to these example networks,however, as other networks may be used in some embodiments. In someembodiments, a network may include one or more components shown in FIG.1A. Some embodiments may not necessarily include all components shown inFIG. 1A, and some embodiments may include additional components notshown in FIG. 1A. In some embodiments, a network may include one or morecomponents shown in FIG. 1B. Some embodiments may not necessarilyinclude all components shown in FIG. 1B, and some embodiments mayinclude additional components not shown in FIG. 1B. In some embodiments,a network may include one or more components shown in FIG. 1A and one ormore components shown in FIG. 1B. In some embodiments, a network mayinclude one or more components shown in FIG. 1A, one or more componentsshown in FIG. 1B and one or more additional components.

The network 100 may comprise a radio access network (RAN) 101 and thecore network 120 (e.g., shown as an evolved packet core (EPC)) coupledtogether through an S1 interface 115. For convenience and brevity sake,only a portion of the core network 120, as well as the RAN 101, isshown. In a non-limiting example, the RAN 101 may be an evolveduniversal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN). In anothernon-limiting example, the RAN 101 may include one or more components ofa New Radio (NR) network. In another non-limiting example, the RAN 101may include one or more components of an E-UTRAN and one or morecomponents of another network (including but not limited to an NRnetwork).

The core network 120 may include a mobility management entity (MME) 122,a serving gateway (serving GW) 124, and packet data network gateway (PDNGW) 126. In some embodiments, the network 100 may include (and/orsupport) one or more Evolved Node-B's (eNBs) 104 (which may operate asbase stations) for communicating with User Equipment (UE) 102. The eNBs104 may include macro eNBs and low power (LP) eNBs, in some embodiments.

In some embodiments, the network 100 may include (and/or support) one ormore Next Generation Node-B's (gNBs) 105. In some embodiments, one ormore eNBs 104 may be configured to operate as gNBs 105. Embodiments arenot limited to the number of eNBs 104 shown in FIG. 1A or to the numberof gNBs 105 shown in FIG. 1A. In some embodiments, the network 100 maynot necessarily include eNBs 104. Embodiments are also not limited tothe connectivity of components shown in FIG. 1A.

It should be noted that references herein to an eNB 104 or to a gNB 105are not limiting. In some embodiments, one or more operations, methodsand/or techniques (such as those described herein) may be practiced by abase station component (and/or other component), including but notlimited to a gNB 105, an eNB 104, a serving cell, a transmit receivepoint (TRP) and/or other. In some embodiments, the base stationcomponent may be configured to operate in accordance with a New Radio(NR) protocol and/or NR standard, although the scope of embodiments isnot limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the base stationcomponent may be configured to operate in accordance with a FifthGeneration (5G) protocol and/or 5G standard, although the scope ofembodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, one or more of the UEs 102, gNBs 105, and/or eNBs104 may be configured to operate in accordance with an NR protocoland/or NR techniques. References to a UE 102, eNB 104, and/or gNB 105 aspart of descriptions herein are not limiting. For instance, descriptionsof one or more operations, techniques and/or methods practiced by a gNB105 are not limiting. In some embodiments, one or more of thoseoperations, techniques and/or methods may be practiced by an eNB 104and/or other base station component.

In some embodiments, the UE 102 may transmit signals (data, controland/or other) to the gNB 105, and may receive signals (data, controland/or other) from the gNB 105. In some embodiments, the UE 102 maytransmit signals (data, control and/or other) to the eNB 104, and mayreceive signals (data, control and/or other) from the eNB 104. Theseembodiments will be described in more detail below.

The MME 122 is similar in function to the control plane of legacyServing GPRS Support Nodes (SGSN). The MME 122 manages mobility aspectsin access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management.The serving GW 124 terminates the interface toward the RAN 101, androutes data packets between the RAN 101 and the core network 120. Inaddition, it may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-eNBhandovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Otherresponsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policyenforcement. The serving GW 124 and the MME 122 may be implemented inone physical node or separate physical nodes. The PDN GW 126 terminatesan SGi interface toward the packet data network (PDN). The PDN GW 126routes data packets between the EPC 120 and the external PDN, and may bea key node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. It mayalso provide an anchor point for mobility with non-LTE accesses. Theexternal PDN can be any kind of IP network, as well as an IP MultimediaSubsystem (IMS) domain. The PDN GW 126 and the serving GW 124 may beimplemented in one physical node or separated physical nodes.

In some embodiments, the eNBs 104 (macro and micro) terminate the airinterface protocol and may be the first point of contact for a UE 102.In some embodiments, an eNB 104 may fulfill various logical functionsfor the network 100, including but not limited to RNC (radio networkcontroller functions) such as radio bearer management, uplink anddownlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling,and mobility management.

In some embodiments, UEs 102 may be configured to communicate OrthogonalFrequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with an eNB104 and/or gNB 105 over a multicarrier communication channel inaccordance with an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)communication technique. In some embodiments, eNBs 104 and/or gNBs 105may be configured to communicate OFDM communication signals with a UE102 over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance with anOFDMA communication technique. The OFDM signals may comprise a pluralityof orthogonal subcarriers.

The S1 interface 115 is the interface that separates the RAN 101 and theEPC 120. It may be split into two parts: the S1-U, which carries trafficdata between the eNBs 104 and the serving GW 124, and the S1-MME, whichis a signaling interface between the eNBs 104 and the MME 122. The X2interface is the interface between eNBs 104. The X2 interface comprisestwo parts, the X2-C and X2-U. The X2-C is the control plane interfacebetween the eNBs 104, while the X2-U is the user plane interface betweenthe eNBs 104.

In some embodiments, similar functionality and/or connectivity describedfor the eNB 104 may be used for the gNB 105, although the scope ofembodiments is not limited in this respect. In a non-limiting example,the S1 interface 115 (and/or similar interface) may be split into twoparts: the S1-U, which carries traffic data between the gNBs 105 and theserving GW 124, and the S1-MME, which is a signaling interface betweenthe gNBs 104 and the MME 122. The X2 interface (and/or similarinterface) may enable communication between eNBs 104, communicationbetween gNBs 105 and/or communication between an eNB 104 and a gNB 105.

With cellular networks, LP cells are typically used to extend coverageto indoor areas where outdoor signals do not reach well, or to addnetwork capacity in areas with very dense phone usage, such as trainstations. As used herein, the term low power (LP) eNB refers to anysuitable relatively low power eNB for implementing a narrower cell(narrower than a macro cell) such as a femtocell, a picocell, or a microcell. Femtocell eNBs are typically provided by a mobile network operatorto its residential or enterprise customers. A femtocell is typically thesize of a residential gateway or smaller and generally connects to theuser's broadband line. Once plugged in, the femtocell connects to themobile operator's mobile network and provides extra coverage in a rangeof typically 30 to 50 meters for residential femtocells. Thus, a LP eNBmight be a femtocell eNB since it is coupled through the PDN GW 126.Similarly, a picocell is a wireless communication system typicallycovering a small area, such as in-building (offices, shopping malls,train stations, etc.), or more recently in-aircraft. A picocell eNB cangenerally connect through the X2 link to another eNB such as a macro eNBthrough its base station controller (BSC) functionality. Thus, LP eNBmay be implemented with a picocell eNB since it is coupled to a macroeNB via an X2 interface. Picocell eNBs or other LP eNBs may incorporatesome or all functionality of a macro eNB. In some cases, this may bereferred to as an access point base station or enterprise femtocell. Insome embodiments, various types of gNBs 105 may be used, including butnot limited to one or more of the eNB types described above.

In some embodiments, the network 150 may include one or more componentsconfigured to operate in accordance with one or more 3GPP standards,including but not limited to an NR standard. The network 150 shown inFIG. 1B may include a next generation RAN (NG-RAN) 155, which mayinclude one or more gNBs 105. In some embodiments, the network 150 mayinclude the E-UTRAN 160, which may include one or more eNBs. The E-UTRAN160 may be similar to the RAN 101 described herein, although the scopeof embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the network 150 may include the MME 165. The MME165 may be similar to the MME 122 described herein, although the scopeof embodiments is not limited in this respect. The MME 165 may performone or more operations or functionality similar to those describedherein regarding the MME 122, although the scope of embodiments is notlimited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the network 150 may include the SGW 170. The SGW170 may be similar to the SGW 124 described herein, although the scopeof embodiments is not limited in this respect. The SGW 170 may performone or more operations or functionality similar to those describedherein regarding the SGW 124, although the scope of embodiments is notlimited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the network 150 may include component(s) and/ormodule(s) for functionality for a user plane function (UPF) and userplane functionality for PGW (PGW-U), as indicated by 175. In someembodiments, the network 150 may include component(s) and/or module(s)for functionality for a session management function (SMF) and controlplane functionality for PGW (PGW-C), as indicated by 180. In someembodiments, the component(s) and/or module(s) indicated by 175 and/or180 may be similar to the PGW 126 described herein, although the scopeof embodiments is not limited in this respect. The component(s) and/ormodule(s) indicated by 175 and/or 180 may perform one or more operationsor functionality similar to those described herein regarding the PGW126, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect.One or both of the components 170, 172 may perform at least a portion ofthe functionality described herein for the PGW 126, although the scopeof embodiments is not limited in this respect.

Embodiments are not limited to the number or type of components shown inFIG. 1B. Embodiments are also not limited to the connectivity ofcomponents shown in FIG. 1B.

In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlinktransmissions from an eNB 104 to a UE 102, while uplink transmissionfrom the UE 102 to the eNB 104 may utilize similar techniques. In someembodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlinktransmissions from a gNB 105 to a UE 102, while uplink transmission fromthe UE 102 to the gNB 105 may utilize similar techniques. The grid maybe a time-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequencyresource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in eachslot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practicefor OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resourceallocation. Each column and each row of the resource grid correspond toone OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration ofthe resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radioframe. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted asa resource element (RE). There are several different physical downlinkchannels that are conveyed using such resource blocks. With particularrelevance to this disclosure, two of these physical downlink channelsare the physical downlink shared channel and the physical down linkcontrol channel.

As used herein, the term “circuitry” may refer to, be part of, orinclude an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electroniccircuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and/or memory(shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software orfirmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitablehardware components that provide the described functionality. In someembodiments, the circuitry may be implemented in, or functionsassociated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or moresoftware or firmware modules. In some embodiments, circuitry may includelogic, at least partially operable in hardware. Embodiments describedherein may be implemented into a system using any suitably configuredhardware and/or software.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine in accordancewith some embodiments. The machine 200 is an example machine upon whichany one or more of the techniques and/or methodologies discussed hereinmay be performed. In alternative embodiments, the machine 200 mayoperate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) toother machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 200 may operatein the capacity of a server machine, a client machine, or both inserver-client network environments. In an example, the machine 200 mayact as a peer machine in peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed)network environment. The machine 200 may be a UE 102, eNB 104, gNB 105,access point (AP), station (STA), user, device, mobile device, basestation, personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a smart phone, aweb appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machinecapable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specifyactions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a singlemachine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken toinclude any collection of machines that individually or jointly executea set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more ofthe methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software asa service (SaaS), other computer cluster configurations.

Examples as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic or anumber of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangibleentities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations andmay be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example,circuits may be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to externalentities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. Inan example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., astandalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardwareprocessors may be configured by firmware or software (e.g.,instructions, an application portion, or an application) as a modulethat operates to perform specified operations. In an example, thesoftware may reside on a machine readable medium. In an example, thesoftware, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causesthe hardware to perform the specified operations.

Accordingly, the term “module” is understood to encompass a tangibleentity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specificallyconfigured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily)configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or toperform part or all of any operation described herein. Consideringexamples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of themodules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example,where the modules comprise a general-purpose hardware processorconfigured using software, the general-purpose hardware processor may beconfigured as respective different modules at different times. Softwaremay accordingly configure a hardware processor, for example, toconstitute a particular module at one instance of time and to constitutea different module at a different instance of time.

The machine (e.g., computer system) 200 may include a hardware processor202 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit(GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a mainmemory 204 and a static memory 206, some or all of which may communicatewith each other via an interlink (e.g., bus) 208. The machine 200 mayfurther include a display unit 210, an alphanumeric input device 212(e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 214(e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display unit 210, input device 212and UI navigation device 214 may be a touch screen display. The machine200 may additionally include a storage device (e.g., drive unit) 216, asignal generation device 218 (e.g., a speaker), a network interfacedevice 220, and one or more sensors 221, such as a global positioningsystem (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or other sensor. Themachine 200 may include an output controller 228, such as a serial(e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless(e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connectionto communicate or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., aprinter, card reader, etc.).

The storage device 216 may include a machine readable medium 222 onwhich is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 224(e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of thetechniques or functions described herein. The instructions 224 may alsoreside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 204,within static memory 206, or within the hardware processor 202 duringexecution thereof by the machine 200. In an example, one or anycombination of the hardware processor 202, the main memory 204, thestatic memory 206, or the storage device 216 may constitute machinereadable media. In some embodiments, the machine readable medium may beor may include a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Insome embodiments, the machine readable medium may be or may include acomputer-readable storage medium.

While the machine readable medium 222 is illustrated as a single medium,the term “machine readable medium” may include a single medium ormultiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/orassociated caches and servers) configured to store the one or moreinstructions 224. The term “machine readable medium” may include anymedium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructionsfor execution by the machine 200 and that cause the machine 200 toperform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, orthat is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures used byor associated with such instructions. Non-limiting machine readablemedium examples may include solid-state memories, and optical andmagnetic media. Specific examples of machine readable media may include:non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g.,Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), ElectricallyErasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memorydevices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removabledisks; magneto-optical disks; Random Access Memory (RAM); and CD-ROM andDVD-ROM disks. In some examples, machine readable media may includenon-transitory machine readable media. In some examples, machinereadable media may include machine readable media that is not atransitory propagating signal.

The instructions 224 may further be transmitted or received over acommunications network 226 using a transmission medium via the networkinterface device 220 utilizing any one of a number of transfer protocols(e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP), transmission controlprotocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transferprotocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks may include alocal area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet datanetwork (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellularnetworks), Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless datanetworks (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, IEEE 802.16 family ofstandards known as WiMax®), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, a LongTerm Evolution (LTE) family of standards, a Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) family of standards, peer-to-peer (P2P)networks, among others. In an example, the network interface device 220may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, orphone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communicationsnetwork 226. In an example, the network interface device 220 may includea plurality of antennas to wirelessly communicate using at least one ofsingle-input multiple-output (SIMO), multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO), or multiple-input single-output (MISO) techniques. In someexamples, the network interface device 220 may wirelessly communicateusing Multiple User MIMO techniques. The term “transmission medium”shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machine200, and includes digital or analog communications signals or otherintangible medium to facilitate communication of such software.

FIG. 3 illustrates a user device in accordance with some aspects. Insome embodiments, the user device 300 may be a mobile device. In someembodiments, the user device 300 may be or may be configured to operateas a User Equipment (UE). In some embodiments, the user device 300 maybe arranged to operate in accordance with a new radio (NR) protocol. Insome embodiments, the user device 300 may be arranged to operate inaccordance with a Third Generation Partnership Protocol (3GPP) protocol.The user device 300 may be suitable for use as a UE 102 as depicted inFIG. 1, in some embodiments. It should be noted that in someembodiments, a UE, an apparatus of a UE, a user device or an apparatusof a user device may include one or more of the components shown in oneor more of FIGS. 2, 3, and 5. In some embodiments, such a UE, userdevice and/or apparatus may include one or more additional components.

In some aspects, the user device 300 may include an applicationprocessor 305, baseband processor 310 (also referred to as a basebandmodule), radio front end module (RFEM) 315, memory 320, connectivitymodule 325, near field communication (NFC) controller 330, audio driver335, camera driver 340, touch screen 345, display driver 350, sensors355, removable memory 360, power management integrated circuit (PMIC)365 and smart battery 370. In some aspects, the user device 300 may be aUser Equipment (UE).

In some aspects, application processor 305 may include, for example, oneor more CPU cores and one or more of cache memory, low drop-out voltageregulators (LDOs), interrupt controllers, serial interfaces such asserial peripheral interface (SPI), inter-integrated circuit (I²C) oruniversal programmable serial interface module, real time clock (RTC),timer-counters including interval and watchdog timers, general purposeinput-output (IO), memory card controllers such as securedigital/multi-media card (SD/MMC) or similar, universal serial bus (USB)interfaces, mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) interfaces andJoint Test Access Group (JTAG) test access ports.

In some aspects, baseband module 310 may be implemented, for example, asa solder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board,and/or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits.

FIG. 4 illustrates a base station in accordance with some aspects. Insome embodiments, the base station 400 may be or may be configured tooperate as an Evolved Node-B (eNB). In some embodiments, the basestation 400 may be or may be configured to operate as a Next GenerationNode-B (gNB). In some embodiments, the base station 400 may be arrangedto operate in accordance with a new radio (NR) protocol. In someembodiments, the base station 400 may be arranged to operate inaccordance with a Third Generation Partnership Protocol (3GPP) protocol.It should be noted that in some embodiments, the base station 400 may bea stationary non-mobile device. The base station 400 may be suitable foruse as an eNB 104 as depicted in FIG. 1, in some embodiments. The basestation 400 may be suitable for use as a gNB 105 as depicted in FIG. 1,in some embodiments. It should be noted that in some embodiments, aneNB, an apparatus of an eNB, a gNB, an apparatus of a gNB, a basestation and/or an apparatus of a base station may include one or more ofthe components shown in one or more of FIGS. 2, 4, and 5. In someembodiments, such an eNB, gNB, base station and/or apparatus may includeone or more additional components.

FIG. 4 illustrates a base station or infrastructure equipment radio head400 in accordance with some aspects. The base station 400 may includeone or more of application processor 405, baseband modules 410, one ormore radio front end modules 415, memory 420, power management circuitry425, power tee circuitry 430, network controller 435, network interfaceconnector 440, satellite navigation receiver module 445, and userinterface 450. In some aspects, the base station 400 may be an EvolvedNode-B (eNB), which may be arranged to operate in accordance with a 3GPPprotocol, new radio (NR) protocol and/or Fifth Generation (5G) protocol.In some aspects, the base station 400 may be a Next Generation Node-B(gNB), which may be arranged to operate in accordance with a 3GPPprotocol, new radio (NR) protocol and/or Fifth Generation (5G) protocol.

In some aspects, application processor 405 may include one or more CPUcores and one or more of cache memory, low drop-out voltage regulators(LDOs), interrupt controllers, serial interfaces such as SPI, I²C oruniversal programmable serial interface module, real time clock (RTC),timer-counters including interval and watchdog timers, general purposeIO, memory card controllers such as SD/MMC or similar, USB interfaces,MIPI interfaces and Joint Test Access Group (JTAG) test access ports.

In some aspects, baseband processor 410 may be implemented, for example,as a solder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board or amulti-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits.

In some aspects, memory 420 may include one or more of volatile memoryincluding dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and/or synchronous dynamicrandom access memory (SDRAM), and nonvolatile memory (NVM) includinghigh-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as Flashmemory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magneto-resistiverandom access memory (MRAM) and/or a three-dimensional cross-pointmemory. Memory 420 may be implemented as one or more of solder downpackaged integrated circuits, socketed memory modules and plug-in memorycards.

In some aspects, power management integrated circuitry 425 may includeone or more of voltage regulators, surge protectors, power alarmdetection circuitry and one or more backup power sources such as abattery or capacitor. Power alarm detection circuitry may detect one ormore of brown out (under-voltage) and surge (over-voltage) conditions.

In some aspects, power tee circuitry 430 may provide for electricalpower drawn from a network cable to provide both power supply and dataconnectivity to the base station 400 using a single cable. In someaspects, network controller 435 may provide connectivity to a networkusing a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet. Networkconnectivity may be provided using a physical connection which is one ofelectrical (commonly referred to as copper interconnect), optical orwireless.

In some aspects, satellite navigation receiver module 445 may includecircuitry to receive and decode signals transmitted by one or morenavigation satellite constellations such as the global positioningsystem (GPS), Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (GLONASS),Galileo and/or BeiDou. The receiver 445 may provide data to applicationprocessor 405 which may include one or more of position data or timedata. Application processor 405 may use time data to synchronizeoperations with other radio base stations. In some aspects, userinterface 450 may include one or more of physical or virtual buttons,such as a reset button, one or more indicators such as light emittingdiodes (LEDs) and a display screen.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary communication circuitry according tosome aspects. Circuitry 500 is alternatively grouped according tofunctions. Components as shown in 500 are shown here for illustrativepurposes and may include other components not shown here in FIG. 5. Insome aspects, the communication circuitry 500 may be used for millimeterwave communication, although aspects are not limited to millimeter wavecommunication. Communication at any suitable frequency may be performedby the communication circuitry 500 in some aspects.

It should be noted that a device, such as a UE 102, eNB 104, gNB 105,the user device 300, the base station 400, the machine 200 and/or otherdevice may include one or more components of the communication circuitry500, in some aspects.

The communication circuitry 500 may include protocol processingcircuitry 505, which may implement one or more of medium access control(MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol(PDCP), radio resource control (RRC) and non-access stratum (NAS)functions. Protocol processing circuitry 505 may include one or moreprocessing cores (not shown) to execute instructions and one or morememory structures (not shown) to store program and data information.

The communication circuitry 500 may further include digital basebandcircuitry 510, which may implement physical layer (PHY) functionsincluding one or more of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)functions, scrambling and/or descrambling, coding and/or decoding, layermapping and/or de-mapping, modulation symbol mapping, received symboland/or bit metric determination, multi-antenna port pre-coding and/ordecoding which may include one or more of space-time, space-frequency orspatial coding, reference signal generation and/or detection, preamblesequence generation and/or decoding, synchronization sequence generationand/or detection, control channel signal blind decoding, and otherrelated functions.

The communication circuitry 500 may further include transmit circuitry515, receive circuitry 520 and/or antenna array circuitry 530. Thecommunication circuitry 500 may further include radio frequency (RF)circuitry 525. In an aspect of the disclosure, RF circuitry 525 mayinclude multiple parallel RF chains for one or more of transmit orreceive functions, each connected to one or more antennas of the antennaarray 530.

In an aspect of the disclosure, protocol processing circuitry 505 mayinclude one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) toprovide control functions for one or more of digital baseband circuitry510, transmit circuitry 515, receive circuitry 520, and/or radiofrequency circuitry 525.

In some embodiments, processing circuitry may perform one or moreoperations described herein and/or other operation(s). In a non-limitingexample, the processing circuitry may include one or more componentssuch as the processor 202, application processor 305, baseband module310, application processor 405, baseband module 410, protocol processingcircuitry 505, digital baseband circuitry 510, similar component(s)and/or other component(s).

In some embodiments, a transceiver may transmit one or more elements(including but not limited to those described herein) and/or receive oneor more elements (including but not limited to those described herein).In a non-limiting example, the transceiver may include one or morecomponents such as the radio front end module 315, radio front endmodule 415, transmit circuitry 515, receive circuitry 520, radiofrequency circuitry 525, similar component(s) and/or other component(s).

One or more antennas (such as 230, 312, 412, 530 and/or others) maycomprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including,for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loopantennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable fortransmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) embodiments, one or more of the antennas (such as 230, 312, 412,530 and/or others) may be effectively separated to take advantage ofspatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that mayresult.

In some embodiments, the UE 102, eNB 104, gNB 105, user device 300, basestation 400, machine 200 and/or other device described herein may be amobile device and/or portable wireless communication device, such as apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer withwireless communication capability, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, asmartphone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, adigital camera, an access point, a television, a wearable device such asa medical device (e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor,etc.), or other device that may receive and/or transmit informationwirelessly. In some embodiments, the UE 102, eNB 104, gNB 105, userdevice 300, base station 400, machine 200 and/or other device describedherein may be configured to operate in accordance with 3GPP standards,although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. Insome embodiments, the UE 102, eNB 104, gNB 105, user device 300, basestation 400, machine 200 and/or other device described herein may beconfigured to operate in accordance with new radio (NR) standards,although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. Insome embodiments, the UE 102, eNB 104, gNB 105, user device 300, basestation 400, machine 200 and/or other device described herein may beconfigured to operate according to other protocols or standards,including IEEE 802.11 or other IEEE standards. In some embodiments, theUE 102, eNB 104, gNB 105, user device 300, base station 400, machine 200and/or other device described herein may include one or more of akeyboard, a display, a non-volatile memory port, multiple antennas, agraphics processor, an application processor, speakers, and other mobiledevice elements. The display may be an LCD screen including a touchscreen.

Although the UE 102, eNB 104, gNB 105, user device 300, base station400, machine 200 and/or other device described herein may each beillustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or moreof the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented bycombinations of software-configured elements, such as processingelements including digital signal processors (DSPs), and/or otherhardware elements. For example, some elements may comprise one or moremicroprocessors, DSPs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio-frequencyintegrated circuits (RFICs) and combinations of various hardware andlogic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein.In some embodiments, the functional elements may refer to one or moreprocesses operating on one or more processing elements.

Embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware,firmware and software. Embodiments may also be implemented asinstructions stored on a computer-readable storage device, which may beread and executed by at least one processor to perform the operationsdescribed herein. A computer-readable storage device may include anynon-transitory mechanism for storing information in a form readable by amachine (e.g., a computer). For example, a computer-readable storagedevice may include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM),magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memorydevices, and other storage devices and media. Some embodiments mayinclude one or more processors and may be configured with instructionsstored on a computer-readable storage device.

It should be noted that in some embodiments, an apparatus of the UE 102,eNB 104, gNB 105, machine 200, user device 300 and/or base station 400may include various components shown in FIGS. 2-5. Accordingly,techniques and operations described herein that refer to the UE 102 maybe applicable to an apparatus of a UE. In addition, techniques andoperations described herein that refer to the eNB 104 may be applicableto an apparatus of an eNB. In addition, techniques and operationsdescribed herein that refer to the gNB 105 may be applicable to anapparatus of a gNB.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a radio frame structure in accordancewith some embodiments. FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate example frequencyresources in accordance with some embodiments. In references herein,“FIG. 7” may include FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B. It should be noted that theexamples shown in FIGS. 6-7 may illustrate some or all of the conceptsand techniques described herein in some cases, but embodiments are notlimited by the examples. For instance, embodiments are not limited bythe name, number, type, size, ordering, arrangement and/or other aspectsof the time resources, symbol periods, frequency resources, PRBs andother elements as shown in FIGS. 6-7. Although some of the elementsshown in the examples of FIGS. 6-7 may be included in a 3GPP LTEstandard, 5G standard, NR standard and/or other standard, embodimentsare not limited to usage of such elements that are included instandards.

An example of a radio frame structure that may be used in some aspectsis shown in FIG. 6. In this example, radio frame 600 has a duration of10 ms. Radio frame 600 is divided into slots 602 each of duration 0.5ms, and numbered from 0 to 19. Additionally, each pair of adjacent slots602 numbered 2i and 2i+1, where i is an integer, is referred to as asubframe 601.

In some aspects using the radio frame format of FIG. 6, each subframe601 may include a combination of one or more of downlink controlinformation, downlink data information, uplink control information anduplink data information. The combination of information types anddirection may be selected independently for each subframe 601.

Referring to FIGS. 7A and 7B, in some aspects, a sub-component of atransmitted signal consisting of one subcarrier in the frequency domainand one symbol interval in the time domain may be termed a resourceelement. Resource elements may be depicted in a grid form as shown inFIG. 7A and FIG. 7B.

In some aspects, illustrated in FIG. 7A, resource elements may begrouped into rectangular resource blocks 700 consisting of 12subcarriers in the frequency domain and the P symbols in the timedomain, where P may correspond to the number of symbols contained in oneslot, and may be 6, 7, or any other suitable number of symbols.

In some alternative aspects, illustrated in FIG. 7B, resource elementsmay be grouped into resource blocks 700 consisting of 12 subcarriers (asindicated by 702) in the frequency domain and one symbol in the timedomain. In the depictions of FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B, each resource element705 may be indexed as (k, l) where k is the index number of subcarrier,in the range 0 to N.M−1 (as indicated by 703), where N is the number ofsubcarriers in a resource block, and M is the number of resource blocksspanning a component carrier in the frequency domain.

In accordance with some embodiments, if a higher layer parameteraltMCS-Table is configured, and a physical downlink shared channel(PDSCH) is assigned by a downlink control information (DCI) format thatis one of 1, 1B, 1D, 2, 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D, and a cyclic redundancycheck (CRC) of the DCI format is scrambled by a cell radio networktemporary identifier (C-RNTI), and if a transport block of the PDSCH istransmitted in the DwPTS of the frame, and the frame is of type 2 framestructure, or if the transport block of the PDSCH is transmitted in oneor more subframes of a duration that is the same as a duration of aDwPTS of a special subframe in frames of type 3 frame structure, the UE102 may determine a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) for thetransport block as a maximum of: 1; and a floor function applied to aproduct of a total number of allocated PRBs, a parameter dependent on aspecial subframe configuration, and a scaling parameter. Otherwise, theUE 102 may determine the number of PRBs for the transport block as amaximum of: 1; and the floor function applied to a product of the totalnumber of allocated PRBs and the scaling parameter. These embodimentsare described in more detail below.

FIG. 8 illustrates the operation of a method of communication inaccordance with some embodiments. FIG. 9 illustrates the operation ofanother method of communication in accordance with some embodiments. Itis important to note that embodiments of the methods 800, 900 mayinclude additional or even fewer operations or processes in comparisonto what is illustrated in FIGS. 8-9. In addition, embodiments of themethods 800, 900 are not necessarily limited to the chronological orderthat is shown in FIGS. 8-9. In describing the methods 800, 900,reference may be made to one or more figures, although it is understoodthat the methods 800, 900 may be practiced with any other suitablesystems, interfaces and components.

In some embodiments, a UE 102 may perform one or more operations of themethod 800, but embodiments are not limited to performance of the method800 and/or operations of it by the UE 102. In some embodiments, anotherdevice and/or component may perform one or more operations of the method800. In some embodiments, another device and/or component may performone or more operations that may be similar to one or more operations ofthe method 800. In some embodiments, another device and/or component mayperform one or more operations that may be reciprocal to one or moreoperations of the method 800. In a non-limiting example, the gNB 105 mayperform an operation that may be the same as, similar to, reciprocal toand/or related to an operation of the method 800, in some embodiments.

In some embodiments, a gNB 105 may perform one or more operations of themethod 900, but embodiments are not limited to performance of the method900 and/or operations of it by the gNB 105. In some embodiments, anotherdevice and/or component may perform one or more operations of the method900. In some embodiments, another device and/or component may performone or more operations that may be similar to one or more operations ofthe method 900. In some embodiments, another device and/or component mayperform one or more operations that may be reciprocal to one or moreoperations of the method 900. In a non-limiting example, the UE 102 mayperform an operation that may be the same as, similar to, reciprocal toand/or related to an operation of the method 900, in some embodiments.In another non-limiting example, the eNB 104 may perform an operationthat may be the same as, similar to, reciprocal to and/or related to anoperation of the method 900, in some embodiments

It should be noted that one or more operations of one of the methods800, 900 may be the same as, similar to and/or reciprocal to one or moreoperations of the other method. For instance, an operation of the method800 may be the same as, similar to and/or reciprocal to an operation ofthe method 900, in some embodiments. In a non-limiting example, anoperation of the method 800 may include reception of an element (such asa frame, block, message and/or other) by the UE 102, and an operation ofthe method 900 may include transmission of a same element (and/orsimilar element) by the gNB 105. In some cases, descriptions ofoperations and techniques described as part of one of the methods 800,900 may be relevant to the other method.

Discussion of various operations, techniques and/or concepts regardingone of the methods 800, 900 and/or other method may be applicable to oneof the other methods, although the scope of embodiments is not limitedin this respect. Such operations, techniques and/or concepts may berelated to PRBs, transport blocks, PDSCH, DCI, MCS, modulation order, FDMIMO, BL/CE, and/or other.

The methods 800, 900 and other methods described herein may refer toeNBs 104, gNBs 105 and/or UEs 102 operating in accordance with 3GPPstandards, 5G standards, NR standards and/or other standards. However,embodiments are not limited to performance of those methods by thosecomponents, and may also be performed by other devices, such as a Wi-Fiaccess point (AP) or user station (STA). In addition, the methods 800,900 and other methods described herein may be practiced by wirelessdevices configured to operate in other suitable types of wirelesscommunication systems, including systems configured to operate accordingto various IEEE standards such as IEEE 802.11. The methods 800, 900 mayalso be applicable to an apparatus of a UE 102, an apparatus of an eNB104, an apparatus of a gNB 105 and/or an apparatus of another devicedescribed above.

It should also be noted that embodiments are not limited by referencesherein (such as in descriptions of the methods 800, 900 and/or otherdescriptions herein) to transmission, reception and/or exchanging ofelements such as frames, messages, requests, indicators, signals orother elements. In some embodiments, such an element may be generated,encoded or otherwise processed by processing circuitry (such as by abaseband processor included in the processing circuitry) fortransmission. The transmission may be performed by a transceiver orother component, in some cases. In some embodiments, such an element maybe decoded, detected or otherwise processed by the processing circuitry(such as by the baseband processor). The element may be received by atransceiver or other component, in some cases. In some embodiments, theprocessing circuitry and the transceiver may be included in a sameapparatus. The scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect,however, as the transceiver may be separate from the apparatus thatcomprises the processing circuitry, in some embodiments.

One or more of the elements (such as messages, operations and/or other)described herein may be included in a standard and/or protocol,including but not limited to Third Generation Partnership Project(3GPP), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), Fourth Generation (4G), FifthGeneration (5G), New Radio (NR) and/or other. Embodiments are notlimited to usage of those elements, however. In some embodiments, otherelements may be used, including other element(s) in a samestandard/protocol, other element(s) in another standard/protocol and/orother. In addition, the scope of embodiments is not limited to usage ofelements that are included in standards.

In some embodiments, the UE 102 may be configured to operate inaccordance with a full dimension multiple-input multiple-output (FDMIMO) antenna configuration. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may be abandwidth-reduced low-complexity coverage enhancement (BL/CE) UE. Insome embodiments, the UE 102 may be configured to operate as a BL/CE UE.

At operation 805, the UE 102 may receive downlink control information(DCI). In some embodiments, the UE 102 may receive the DCI from the gNB105 or from the eNB 104, although the scope of embodiments is notlimited in this respect. At operation 810, the UE 102 may receivecontrol signaling. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may receive thecontrol signaling from the gNB 105 or from the eNB 104, although thescope of embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the DCI and/or control signaling may includeparameters, information and/or other elements related to one or more of:scaling parameter(s), frame configuration(s), subframe configuration(s),MCS, modulation order, time resources for transmission/reception of oneor more elements, frequency resources for transmission/reception of oneor more elements, and/or other.

At operation 815, the UE 102 may determine a number of physical resourceblocks (PRBs) for a transport block. At operation 820, the UE 102 maydetermine a size of the transport block. In some embodiments, the UE 102may determine the size of the transport block taking into account thenumber of allocated PRBs and scaling factor configured for the UE 102.In some embodiments, the UE 102 may determine the size of the transportblock taking into account the number of allocated PRBs and scalingfactor configured for the UE 102 using higher layers (e.g. by RRC).

Example techniques for determination of the number of PRBs for thetransport block are described herein, but embodiments are not limited tothose techniques and are also not limited to numbers, parameters and/orother elements used in those techniques in descriptions herein. Someembodiments may use one or more of those techniques, one or more similartechniques (such as with different parameter(s), different value(s),different chronological order, different operations and/or other), oneor more alternate techniques, and/or portion(s) of one or more of thosetechniques.

In some embodiments, if a higher layer parameter altMCS-Table isconfigured, and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is assignedby a DCI format that is one of 1, 1B, 1D, 2, 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D, and acyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the DCI format is scrambled by a cellradio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), the UE 102 may determinethe number of PRBs for a transport block of the PDSCH as follows. A) Ifthe transport block of the PDSCH is transmitted in the DwPTS of theframe, and the frame is of type 2 frame structure, or if the transportblock of the PDSCH is transmitted in one or more subframes of a durationthat is the same as a duration of a DwPTS of a special subframe inframes of type 3 frame structure, the UE 102 may determine the number ofPRBs for the transport block as a maximum of: 1; and a floor functionapplied to a product of a total number of allocated PRBs, a parameterdependent on a special subframe configuration, and a scaling parameter.B) Otherwise, the UE 102 may determine the number of PRBs for thetransport block as a maximum of: 1; and the floor function applied to aproduct of the total number of allocated PRBs and the scaling parameter.

In a non-limiting example, the parameter dependent on the specialsubframe configuration may be equal to: 0.375, if the special subframeis of special subframe configuration 9 and uses a normal cyclic prefix,or if the special subframe is of special subframe configuration 10 anduses a normal cyclic prefix, or if the special subframe is of specialsubframe configuration 7 and uses an extended cyclic prefix; and 0.75,otherwise.

In a non-limiting example, the scaling parameter may be equal to: ahigher layer parameter altMCS-Table-scaling, if a modulation codingscheme (MCS) index of the PDSCH is greater than or equal to 44 and isless than or equal to 58; and 1.0 otherwise.

In some embodiments, the UE 102 may determine a transport block size(TBS) based at least partly on the determined number of PRBs for thetransport block and the MCS index of the PDSCH.

In some embodiments, the UE 102 may receive a DCI and/or DCI format thatindicates the scaling parameter, although the scope of embodiments isnot limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the scaling parametermay be indicated by other control signaling. In some embodiments, thescaling parameter may be predefined, predetermined and/or included in astandard.

In some embodiments, the scaling parameter may be configurable to reducea transport block size (TBS) in comparison to a corresponding TBS for alegacy antenna configuration. In some embodiments, such a reduction mayenable an increased number of channel state information referencesignals (CSI-RSs) in comparison to a corresponding number of CSI-RSs forthe legacy antenna configuration.

In some embodiments, the special subframe may include the DwPTS, a guardperiod (GP), and an uplink portion of the special subframe (UpPTS).

In some embodiments, if a higher layer parameter altMCS-Table isconfigured, for a PDSCH assigned by a DCI format that is one of 1, 1B,1D, 2, 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D, and if a transport block of the PDSCH istransmitted in a downlink portion of a special subframe (DwPTS) of aframe, and the frame is of type 2 frame structure, the UE 102 maydetermine the number of PRBs for the transport block as a maximum of: 1;and a floor function applied to a product of a total number of allocatedPRBs, the parameter dependent on a special subframe configuration, andthe scaling parameter.

In some embodiments, if the higher layer parameter altMCS-Table isconfigured, for a PDSCH assigned by a DCI format that is one of 1, 1B,1D, 2, 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D, if the transport block of the PDSCH istransmitted in one or more subframes of a duration that is the same as aduration of a DwPTS of a special subframe in frames of type 3 framestructure, the UE 102 may determine the number of PRBs for the transportblock as the maximum of 1 and the floor function applied to the productof the total number of allocated PRBs, the parameter dependent on thespecial subframe configuration, and the scaling parameter.

In some embodiments, if the transport block of the PDSCH is transmittedin the DwPTS of the frame, and the frame is of type 2 frame structure,or if the transport block of the PDSCH is transmitted in one or moresubframes of a duration that is the same as a duration of a DwPTS of aspecial subframe in frames of type 3 frame structure, the UE 102 maydetermine the number of PRBs for the transport block as the maximum of 1and the floor function applied to the product of the total number ofallocated PRBs, the parameter dependent on the special subframeconfiguration, and the scaling parameter. Otherwise, the UE 102 maydetermine the number of PRBs for the transport block as the maximum of 1and the floor function applied to a product of the total number ofallocated PRBs and the scaling parameter.

In some embodiments, the UE 102 may use one or more of the techniquesdescribed above for determination of the number of PRBs if a CRC of theDCI format is scrambled by a C-RNTI, although the scope of embodimentsis not limited in this respect.

At operation 825, the UE 102 may determine a modulation order of thePDSCH. Example techniques for determination of the modulation order ofthe PDSCH are described herein, but embodiments are not limited to thosetechniques and are also not limited to numbers, parameters and/or otherelements used in those techniques in descriptions herein. Someembodiments may use one or more of those techniques, one or more similartechniques (such as with different parameter(s), different value(s),different chronological order, different operations and/or other), oneor more alternate techniques, and/or portion(s) of one or more of thosetechniques.

In some embodiments, if a higher layer parameter altMCS-Table isconfigured, and if a PDSCH is assigned by a physical downlink controlchannel (PDCCH) or enhanced PDCCH (ePDCCH) with downlink controlinformation (DCI) format that is one of 1, 1B, 1D, 2, 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D,wherein a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the DCI format is scrambledby a C-RNTI, the UE 102 may determine a modulation order for the PDSCHbased on a modulation coding scheme (MCS) index of the PDSCH and a tablethat includes, for each MCS index of candidate MCS indexes, a firstmodulation order and a second modulation order. In some embodiments, ifthe PDSCH is transmitted only in a second slot of a subframe, themodulation order for the PDSCH may be determined as the secondmodulation order that corresponds to the MCS index of the PDSCH.Otherwise, the modulation order for the PDSCH may be determined as thefirst modulation order that corresponds to the MCS index of the PDSCH.

In a non-limiting example, the candidate MCS indexes may include atleast a range of integers that begins at 46 and ends at 48. For each ofthe candidate MCS indexes in the range of integers that begins at 46 andends at 48, the corresponding first modulation order is less than thecorresponding second modulation order. For instance, the secondmodulation orders for indexes 46, 47, and 48 may be equal to 6 and thefirst modulation orders for indexes 46, 47, and 48 may be equal to 4.

Extending the above example, the range of integers that begins at 46 andends at 48 may be referred to (for clarity) as a first range ofintegers. The candidate MCS indexes may further include another range ofintegers (referred to as a second range of integers, for clarity). Thesecond range of integers may include 44 and 45 and integers in anotherrange that begins at 49 and ends at 58. For each of the candidate MCSindexes in the second range of integers, the corresponding firstmodulation order may be equal to the corresponding second modulationorder.

In a non-limiting example, the candidate MCS indexes may include allintegers in increasing order in a range of integers that begins at 44and ends at 58. The first modulation orders that correspond to theintegers of the range of integers that begins at 44 and ends at 58 maybe: 2, 2, 4, 4, 4, 6, 6, 6, 6, 8, 8, 8, 8, 10 and 10. The secondmodulation orders that correspond to the integers of the range ofintegers that begins at 44 and ends at 58 may be: 2, 2, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6,6, 6, 8, 8, 8, 8, 10 and 10.

In some embodiments, the UE 102 may determine the modulation order forthe PDSCH based on: A) the modulation order is restricted to not be 1024quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) unless the UE 102 is configuredwith an altCQI-Table-1024QAM-r15 parameter; and B) the modulation orderis restricted to not be 256 QAM unless the UE 102 is configured with analtCQI-Table-r12 parameter or an altCQI-Table-1024QAM-r15 parameter.

At operation 830, the UE 102 may receive the transport block and/orPDSCH. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may receive the transport blockand/or PDSCH from the gNB 105 or from the eNB 104, although the scope ofembodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the UE102 may receive the transport block and/or PDSCH in accordance with oneor more of: the determined number of PRBs, the determined TBS, thedetermined modulation order and/or other.

In some embodiments, an apparatus of a UE 102 may comprise memory. Thememory may be configurable to store information related to the number ofPRBs for the transport block. The memory may store one or more otherelements and the apparatus may use them for performance of one or moreoperations. The apparatus may include processing circuitry, which mayperform one or more operations (including but not limited tooperation(s) of the method 800 and/or other methods described herein).The processing circuitry may include a baseband processor. The basebandcircuitry and/or the processing circuitry may perform one or moreoperations described herein, including but not limited to determinationof the number of PRBs for the transport block. The apparatus may includea transceiver to receive the transport block. The transceiver maytransmit and/or receive other blocks, messages and/or other elements.

At operation 905, the eNB 104 and/or gNB 105 transmit DCI. At operation910, the eNB 104 and/or gNB 105 may receive control signaling. Atoperation 915, the eNB 104 and/or gNB 105 may determine the number ofPRBs for a transport block. At operation 920, the eNB 104 and/or gNB 105may determine the size of the transport block. At operation 925, the eNB104 and/or gNB 105 may determine the modulation order of the PDSCH. Atoperation 930, the eNB 104 and/or gNB 105 may transmit the transportblock and/or PDSCH

In some embodiments, an apparatus of an eNB 104 and/or gNB 105 maycomprise memory. The memory may be configurable to store informationrelated to the number of PRBs for the transport block. The memory maystore one or more other elements and the apparatus may use them forperformance of one or more operations. The apparatus may includeprocessing circuitry, which may perform one or more operations(including but not limited to operation(s) of the method 900 and/orother methods described herein). The processing circuitry may include abaseband processor. The baseband circuitry and/or the processingcircuitry may perform one or more operations described herein, includingbut not limited to determination of the number of PRBs for the transportblock. The apparatus may include a transceiver to transmit the transportblock. The transceiver may transmit and/or receive other blocks,messages and/or other elements.

FIG. 10 illustrates example elements in accordance with someembodiments. FIG. 11 illustrates example operations in accordance withsome embodiments. It should be noted that the examples shown in FIGS.10-11 may illustrate some or all of the concepts and techniquesdescribed herein in some cases, but embodiments are not limited by theexamples. For instance, embodiments are not limited by the name, number,type, size, ordering, arrangement of elements (such as devices,operations, messages and/or other elements) shown in FIGS. 10-11.Although some of the elements shown in the examples of FIGS. 10-11 maybe included in a 3GPP LTE standard, 5G standard, NR standard and/orother standard, embodiments are not limited to usage of such elementsthat are included in standards.

Beamforming/FD-MIMO for downlink data transmission was introduced forthe LTE in Rel-13. The Rel-13 operation of Elevation Beamforming/FD MIMOis based on two types of the CSI feedback schemes with: non-precodedChannel State Information Reference signal (CSI-RS), i.e. Class AFD-MIMO; or beamformed CSI-RS, i.e. Class B FD-MIMO.

In Class A, each CSI-RS antenna port of CSI-RS resource is transmittedby the evolved Node B (eNB) 104 without beamforming, while in Class Bthe beamforming on CSI-RS antenna ports is used. The beamforming onCSI-RS antenna ports may provide an additional coverage advantage ofClass B over Class A schemes. The maximum number of antenna ports thatare supported in Rel-14 for Class A FD-MIMO is 32. At most 3 CSI-RSresource can be configured for the UE 102 for Class A FD-MIMO. In ClassB FD-MIMO, up to 8 CSI-RS resources can be configured for the UE 102 perCSI process, where each CSI-RS resource may contain up to 8 antennaports. If multiple CSI processes are considered, that maximum number ofCSI-RS resources can be more than 8.

Transport block size (TBS) selection for a downlink subframe may beperformed. In Rel-10 NZP, CSI-RS were considered as low density and lowoverhead signals due to limited number of the used REs in the subframe(up to 8 REs per PRB pair in the subframe). As a result, the same MCS toTBS mapping for subframes with and without CSI-RS was considered. InRel-14, with possible introduction of the larger number of CSI-RSantenna ports (32 ports), for Class A FD-MIMO, such low overheadassumption may not be valid and another TBS selection for downlinksubframe containing CSI-RS may be considered. An example 1000 of CSI-RSwith 32 antenna ports is shown in FIG. 10, wherein 32 REs may beallocated for CSI-RS transmission. FIG. 10 may illustrate Class A NZPCSI-RS resource REs. A grid 1005 of OFDM symbols 1010 in the horizontaldimension and REs 1015 in the vertical direction is illustrated in FIG.10. The legend 1020 illustrates corresponding elements of the grid 1005in the example 1000. Embodiments are not limited to the arrangement,ordering distribution and other aspect(s) of the elements in the grid1005 illustrated in FIG. 10.

When all CSI-RS REs are used in the subframe, the effective number ofOFDM symbols is reduced by almost 2 OFDM symbols. As a result, thenumber of effective OFDM symbols becomes 12, similar to special subframeconfiguration 4 in TDD.

TBS selection for special subframes may be performed. In frame structuretype 2, special subframes are supported, wherein the subframe comprisesdownlink, uplink and guard period. Different special subframeconfigurations are supported. For example, for special subframeconfigurations 0, 5 the number of OFDM symbols is 3; for specialsubframe configuration 9 the number of OFDM symbols 6; for specialsubframe configurations 1,6 the number of OFDM symbols is 9; for specialsubframe configurations 2,7 the number of OFDM symbols is 10; forspecial subframe configurations 3,8 the number of OFDM symbols is 11;and for special subframe configurations 4 the number of OFDM symbols is12.

If the transport block is transmitted in DwPTS of the special subframein frame structure type 2, then the TBS is selected based on the reducednumber of RBs comparing the actual resource allocation. For specialsubframe configuration 9 with normal cyclic prefix or special subframeconfiguration 7 with extended cyclic prefix, set the Table 7.1.7.2.1-1(of TS 36.213) column indicator as follows:N _(PRB)=max{└N′ _(PRB)×0.375┘,1}

For other special subframe configurations, set the Table 7.1.7.2.1-1column indicator as follows:N _(PRB)=max{└N′ _(PRB)×0.75┘,1}

In some embodiments, in the downlink subframes containing CSI-RS, a TBSselection procedure based on the scaled (reduced) number of RB (PRBs)may be performed. The scaling value may depend on one or more of: anumber of CSI-RS antenna ports; a number of symbols for PDCCH; a numberof CRS ports; a number of DM-RS antenna ports; whether a subframe is aMBSFN or non MBSFN subframe; and/or other. The scaling may also beindicated explicitly using DCI.

In some embodiments, in downlink subframes containing CSI-RS, a TBSselection procedure may be based on the scaled (reduced) number ofresource blocks (RBs). In some embodiments, a scaling factor may dependon a number of CSI-RS antenna ports. For example, if CSI-RS with 32antenna ports is transmitted in a current downlink subframe, the scalingfactor may be 0.75, i.e. the TBS may be selected using the following:N _(PRB)=max{└N′ _(PRB)×0.75┘,1}

In the above N′_(RBP) is a number of RBs for PDSCH transmissionindicated to the UE 102 in Downlink Control Information (DCI).

In some embodiments, the scaling factor may also depend on a number ofsymbols allocated for PDCCH. In a non-limiting example, the number ofsymbols allocated for PDCCH may be a number of symbol in a DL subframeminus a PDSCH starting symbol, although the scope of embodiments is notlimited in this respect.

The table below illustrates example scaling values depending on thenumber of CSI-RS antenna ports and number of symbols allocated for PDCCH(denoted as CFI).

8 < CSI-RS CSI-RS ports < 8 ports <= 16 CSI-RS ports <= 32 1 <= CFI < 31 0.8 0.8 CFI = 3 1 0.8 0.75

In some embodiments, the scaling factor may also depend on one or moreof: a number of CRS ports; a number of DM-RS antenna ports; a type ofsubframe (including but not limited to whether the subframe is MBSFN ornon MBSFN); and/or other.

FIG. 11 illustrates example operations that may be performed by the UE102. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may perform one or more ofoperations 1105, 1110, 1115 and 1120. In some embodiments, the UE 102may perform one or more additional operations. In some embodiments, theUE 102 may not necessarily perform all of operations 1105-1120.

In some embodiments, the TBS scaling may be indicated in DCI using Xbits. For example, if X=1 bit, the TBS scaling may take two values.These two values can be pre-determined in the spec or configured by highlayers (e.g. by RRC). In a non-limiting example, those values may be 1or 0.8. In case X=2, the TBS scaling may take four values. In anon-limiting example, the values may be 1, 0.8, 1.2, 0.75. The specificvalue(s) may be configured by higher layers or fixed in thespecification or may depend on other configurations such as CSI-RS.

In some embodiments, a method of TBS selection for downlink sub frameswith channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS) may includeone or more of: configuration by the serving cell of the CSI-RSparameters at the user equipment (UE) that determines the downlinksubframes that are used for CSI-RS transmission and the number of CSI-RSantenna ports; reception, at the UE 102, downlink control informationindicating transmission of the downlink shared channel in the downlinksubframe containing CSI-RS and the size of the resource allocation;calculation, at the UE 102, of the transport block size (TBS) accordingto the resource allocation size, the number of CSI-RS antenna ports andother parameters; determination of the number of available resourceelements for data transmission in a subframe; reception of physicaldownlink shared channel according to the calculated TBS; and/or other.

In some embodiments, the resource allocation size may be the number ofscheduled resource blocks. In some embodiments, the resource allocationsize for TBS calculation may be changed depending on the number of theCSI-RS antenna ports. In some embodiments, the resource allocation sizemay be scaled by at least one value from the set of {0.5, 0.75, 0.8} fordetermination of the transport block size. In some embodiments, thePDSCH transmission and reception may be performed for a resourceallocation with the size indicted in the downlink control information.

In some embodiments, the scaling may be 1.0 if the total number ofantenna CSI-RS antenna ports in the subframe is less than 8. In someembodiments, the scaling may be less than 1.0 if the total number ofantenna CSI-RS antenna ports in the subframe is more than 8.

In some embodiments, the scaling factor may be determined by number ofsymbols allocated for PDCCH or number of symbol in DL subframe minusPDSCH starting symbol. In some embodiments, the scaling factor may bedetermined based on one or more of: number of CRS ports; number of DM-RSantenna ports; type of subframe (MBSFN or non MBSFN); and/or other.

In some embodiments, a method of TBS selection for downlink sub framesmay include one or more of: identification, by the serving cell, of oneor more scaling parameters for transport block size (TBS) selection andindication for the UE 102 of a scaling value in downlink controlinformation (DCI); receiving, at the UE 102, downlink controlinformation indicating transmission of the downlink shared channel inthe downlink subframe and scaling value for TBS selection; calculation,at the UE 102, of the transport block size (TBS) according to theresource allocation size and scaling factor; receiving physical downlinkshared channel according to the calculated TBS; and/or other.

The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b)requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the natureand gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with theunderstanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scopeor meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporatedinto the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as aseparate embodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus of a User Equipment (UE), theapparatus comprising: memory; and a processor, wherein when a higherlayer parameter altMCS-Table is configured, and a physical downlinkshared channel (PDSCH) is assigned by a downlink control information(DCI) format that is one of 1, 1B, 1D, 2, 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D, and acyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the DCI format is scrambled by a cellradio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), and when a transport blockof the PDSCH is transmitted in a downlink pilot time slot (DwPTS) of theframe, and the frame is of type 2 frame structure, or when the transportblock of the PDSCH is transmitted in one or more subframes of a durationthat is the same as a duration of a DwPTS of a special subframe inframes of type 3 frame structure, the processor is configured todetermine a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) for the transportblock as a maximum of: 1, and a floor function applied to a product of atotal number of allocated PRBs, a parameter dependent on a specialsubframe configuration, and a scaling parameter, and otherwise, theprocessor is configured to determine the number of PRBs for thetransport block as a maximum of: 1, and the floor function applied to aproduct of the total number of allocated PRBs and the scaling parameter.2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the parameter dependenton the special subframe configuration is equal to: 0.375, when thespecial subframe is of special subframe configuration 9 and uses anormal cyclic prefix, or when the special subframe is of specialsubframe configuration 10 and uses a normal cyclic prefix, or when thespecial subframe is of special subframe configuration 7 and uses anextended cyclic prefix, and 0.75, otherwise, and the scaling parameteris equal to: a higher layer parameter altMCS-Table-scaling, when amodulation coding scheme (MCS) index of the PDSCH is greater than orequal to 44 and is less than or equal to 58, and 1.0, otherwise.
 3. Theapparatus according to claim 1, the processor further configured to:determine a transport block size (TBS) based at least partly on thedetermined number of PRBs for the transport block and the MCS index ofthe PDSCH.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, the processor furtherconfigured to: decode the DCI format, wherein the DCI format indicatesthe scaling parameter.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:the scaling parameter is configurable to reduce a transport block size(TBS) in comparison to a corresponding TBS for a legacy antennaconfiguration, to enable an increased number of channel stateinformation reference signals (CSI-RSs) in comparison to a correspondingnumber of CSI-RSs for the legacy antenna configuration.
 6. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the special subframe includes the DwPTS, aguard period (GP), and an uplink portion of the special subframe(UpPTS).
 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the UE isconfigured to operate in accordance with a full dimension multiple-inputmultiple-output (FD MIMO) antenna configuration.
 8. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the UE is a bandwidth-reducedlow-complexity coverage enhancement (BL/CE) UE.
 9. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein: the apparatus includes a transceiver toreceive the transport block, the processor includes a baseband processorto determine the number of PRBs for the transport block, and the memoryis configured to store information related to the number of PRBs for thetransport block.
 10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumthat stores instructions for execution by a processor of a UserEquipment (UE), wherein when a higher layer parameter altMCS-Table isconfigured, and when a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) isassigned by a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or enhancedPDCCH (ePDCCH) with downlink control information (DCI) format that isone of 1, 1B, 1D, 2, 2, 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D, wherein a cyclic redundancycheck (CRC) of the DCI format is scrambled by a cell network temporaryidentifier (C-RNTI); the operations configure the processor to determinea modulation order for the PDSCH based on a modulation coding scheme(MCS) index of the PDSCH and a table that includes, for each MCS indexof candidate MCS indexes, a first modulation order and a secondmodulation order, wherein: when the PDSCH is transmitted only in asecond slot of a subframe, the modulation order for the PDSCH isdetermined as the second modulation order that corresponds to the MCSindex of the PDSCH, and otherwise, the modulation order for the PDSCH isdetermined as the first modulation order that corresponds to the MCSindex of the PDSCH.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium according to claim 10, wherein: the candidate MCS indexesincludes at least a range of integers that begins at 46 and ends at 48,and for each of the candidate MCS indexes in the range of integers thatbegins at 46 and ends at 48, the corresponding first modulation order isless than the corresponding second modulation order.
 12. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 11,wherein: the range of integers that begins at 46 and ends at 48 is afirst range of integers, the candidate MCS indexes further includes asecond range of integers, wherein the second range of integers includes44 and 45 and integers in another range that begins at 49 and ends at58, and for each of the candidate MCS indexes in the second range ofintegers, the corresponding first modulation order is equal to thecorresponding second modulation order.
 13. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein: thecandidate MCS indexes include all integers in increasing order in arange of integers that begins at 44 and ends at 58, the first modulationorders that correspond to the integers of the range of integers thatbegins at 44 and ends at 58 are: 2, 2, 4, 4, 4, 6, 6, 6, 6, 8, 8, 8, 8,10 and 10, the second modulation orders that correspond to the integersof the range of integers that begins at 44 and ends at 58 are: 2, 2, 6,6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 8, 8, 8, 10 and
 10. 14. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage according to claim 10, the operations tofurther configure the processor to determine the modulation order forthe PDSCH based on: the modulation order is restricted to not be 1024quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) unless the UE is configured withan altCQI-Table-1024QAM-r15 parameter, and the modulation order isrestricted to not be 256 QAM unless the UE is configured with analtCQI-Table-r12 parameter or an altCQI-Table-1024QAM-r15 parameter. 15.An apparatus of a User Equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising: memory;and a processor, wherein when a higher layer parameter altMCS-Table isconfigured, for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) assigned by adownlink control information (DCI) format that is one of 1, 1B, 1D, 2,2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D; when a transport block of the PDSCH is transmittedin a downlink portion of a special subframe (DwPTS) of a frame, and theframe is of type 2 frame structure, the processor is configured todetermine a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) for the transportblock as a maximum of: 1, and a floor function applied to a product of:a total number of allocated PRBs, a parameter dependent on a specialsubframe configuration, and a scaling parameter, wherein the parameterdependent on the special subframe configuration is equal to: 0.375, whenthe special subframe is of special subframe configuration 9 and uses anormal cyclic prefix, or when the special subframe is of specialsubframe configuration 10 and uses a normal cyclic prefix, or when thespecial subframe is of special subframe configuration 7 and uses anextended cyclic prefix, and 0.75, otherwise, and wherein the scalingparameter is equal to: a higher layer parameter altMCS-Table-scaling,when a modulation coding scheme (MCS) index of the PDSCH is greater thanor equal to 44 and is less than or equal to 58, and 1.0, otherwise. 16.The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein: when the transport blockof the PDSCH is transmitted in one or more subframes of a duration thatis the same as a duration of a DwPTS of a special subframe in frames oftype 3 frame structure: the processor is configured to determine thenumber of PRBs for the transport block as the maximum of 1 and the floorfunction applied to the product of the total number of allocated PRBs,the parameter dependent on the special subframe configuration, and thescaling parameter.
 17. The apparatus according to claim 15, theprocessor further configured to: when the transport block of the PDSCHis transmitted in the DwPTS of the frame, and the frame is of type 2frame structure, or when the transport block of the PDSCH is transmittedin one or more subframes of a duration that is the same as a duration ofa DwPTS of a special subframe in frames of type 3 frame structure;determine the number of PRBs for the transport block as the maximum of 1and the floor function applied to the product of the total number ofallocated PRBs, the parameter dependent on the special subframeconfiguration, and the scaling parameter; and otherwise: determine thenumber of PRBs for the transport block as the maximum of 1 and the floorfunction applied to a product of the total number of allocated PRBs andthe scaling parameter.
 18. The apparatus according to claim 15, whereina cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the DCI format is scrambled by a cellradio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI).
 19. The apparatus accordingto claim 15, wherein the special subframe includes the DwPTS, a guardperiod (GP), and an uplink portion of the special subframe (UpPTS). 20.The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein: the UE is configured tooperate in accordance with a full dimension multiple-inputmultiple-output (FD MIMO) antenna configuration, or the UE is abandwidth-reduced low-complexity coverage enhancement (BL/CE) UE.